


Denouement

by Alphum



Series: Dramatic Structure [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Catwoman Has a Sidekick | Catlad | Stray (DCU), Angst, Barbara Gordon is Batgirl, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Gen, Jason Todd is Robin, Kate and Pam would be fuckin BROS, Relevant tags to be added as I go to make sure I don't miss anything, Serious Injuries, Slade is an ambiguous bad guy, Stephanie Brown is Spoiler, This hurt me to write and I'm so sorry, Violence, cherrypicking the canon i want from various shows and comics, no beta we die like men, the Joker is an asshole
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:53:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24141634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alphum/pseuds/Alphum
Summary: Leading up to the Joker's bomb in the warehouse that nearly killed Robin, Stray, and Harley Quinn, what was happening with everyone else? How did who get where? How will recovery go for everyone? What's the emotional fallout? How will things change? Where the heck has Nightwing been? Who the heck is Spoiler? Who's watching Gotham with most of the Batfamily down for the count? What's going to happen now?Denouement is defined as the part of a narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained and resolved(Reading Parts 1 and 2 of the series is required if you want things to make sense)
Relationships: Barbara Gordon & Jason Todd
Series: Dramatic Structure [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1556626
Comments: 20
Kudos: 88





	1. Batgirl

**Author's Note:**

> For this to make sense, please read parts one (The Beginning) and two (The Rise and The Fall)!! Because good god this won't make a lot of sense otherwise. Chapter one here actually jumps straight in to where chapter 10 of TRATF left off, with Barbara's POV on things!
> 
> For this chapter, please be aware that there's violence right off the bat.

Batgirl had been investigating a warehouse when she’d been struck from behind. It had been a hard enough blow to render her unconscious and when she awoke, she was groggy and dizzy. Her hands were bound in front of her with zip ties and her cheek was pressing into a dirty floor.

She opened her eyes and squinted to make the world stop spinning in triplicate. 

The warehouse was full of low-level Joker goons, distinguishable by their cheap suits and cheaper face paint. None of them were looking at her, all of them looking instead at… Jason. He wasn’t in his Robin costume, was wearing civilian clothes. He was staring back at her with wide, scared eyes. His mouth was covered in duct tape and his arms and legs were duct taped to the arms and legs of the chair he was sitting on. He was bound from wrist to elbow and knee to ankle. She doubted that even Bruce could get out of that particular tie-up.

She took stock of herself quickly. Her weapons and gadgets were gone, but they’d missed her back-up cell phone tucked in the hidden pocket under her arm. She was also still wearing her mask. So she’d just interrupted, she wasn’t the target.

Jason was the target, but not Robin-Jason. Jason Todd was.

It didn’t make sense to her. She was clearly missing something.

She shifted as quietly as she could to bring her bound hands up to her face. She bit the tail of the tie and pulled the zip tie as tight as it would go. If she was quiet enough, she could sneak her way out of here and get help. If she wasn’t, she’d have to fight her way out. She didn’t see any ways of escaping this right now with Jason, but she’d come back for him.

Her plan worked for all of ten seconds. She was up and moving and taking down the men in her way but a gunshot and a scream of pain that wasn’t caused by her made her freeze.

The Joker had shot Jason in the calf.

“Ah ah ah, that’s not how a nice guest behaves now, is it?” The Joker pressed the gun against Jason’s temple. “If you try anything, little Jason here is going bye-bye. Grab her.” He ordered.

Two men grabbed her biceps and wrists, holding her tight enough to bruise. They dragged her to where the Joker stood by Jason.

The Joker sauntered over to her, the gun in his hand held in a lax grip that made her nervous. He was flopping it around everywhere, practically begging it to go off at any second, in any direction. “Hm, you are a pretty little thing, aren’t you?” He tisked his tongue at her.

She bit her tongue and just glared at him.

“Oh, you bats are so scary!” He shivered theatrically. She hoped he’d shoot himself, but she’d never be that lucky. “All your daring-do and mean looks! Are the mommy and daddy bats not out tonight? Or are they watching over other parts of the city?” He chattered aloud. God, he must love the sound of his own voice. That was a sign of narcissism, right? “All you brave protectors of Gotham! It even brings you down out of the way to try and help poor little street rats! Well, not so much a street rat anymore, I suppose, since Daddy Dearest took you in.” He was talking to Jason now, a few steps taking him over to Jason’s chair.

Jason had carefully regulated his breathing to keep from sending himself into shock. He was breathing hard, but it was even. His cheeks and eyes were wet with reflex tears but he glared up at the Joker just as hard as Batgirl was.

The Joker giggled and backhanded him with his gun hand.

“Hey!” Batgirl barked, yanking at her arms. She managed to take one step forward before the men on either side of her were yanking her back. “Leave him alone!” She snarled.

The Joker just laughed and scurried over to her. Scurried like the damn rat he was.

“How far does your love of Gotham go, I wonder?” The Joker caressed the side of her face with the gun. It was warm from being fired. “Come on, how far do you think? Would you take a bullet for a kid you’ve never met, do you think?”

Chills shot down her spine.

“We can even make it a game!” The Joker’s breath stank when he giggled in her face. “Here, here, watch now!” He ejected the magazine from the handgun and showed it to her. “Eight bullets left, see? I’m going to shoot them all at this poor, abandoned little boy here. You can do what you want to stop it, but if you touch me, I’ll have mister mask over here light you both up. How does that sound? Then when I’m done, we can all be on our merry ways! Sounds nice, right?” He slammed the magazine back home into the handgun and leveled it at Jason’s forehead. “Now, let her go, boys.”

Jason stared at the Joker in horror.

Her arms were released.

The Joker’s finger tightened on the trigger.

She didn’t even have to think. She threw herself forward, between the gun and Jason. She grabbed his head and pressed it down into her chest, trying to cover as much of him with her body armor as she could. Bullets one and two hit her back body armor, but the kinetic force was like getting hit by a pipe. Bullet three ripped through her right tricep, making her cry out in pain. Bullets four and five hit the body armor on her back again. Bullet six hit the on the edge of her armor, decreasing the speed, but it still bit into her body, punching through her side. Bullet seven hit her hip and the armor there. Bullet eight clipped her left shoulder, finding a seam between her backplate and her pauldron.

Jason said something under her that was muffled by the tape on his mouth.

Batgirl took a deep shuddering breath. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” She promised. That was the eighth bullet. That was everything.

He shot again. A ninth bullet. The bullet that had been hiding in the chamber of the gun hit her lower back, just below where her armor stopped. It was dead center on her spine, she knew without looking. The pain ripping through her body was the most intense pain she’d ever felt. Her legs went numb underneath her and she sagged onto Jason. Her vision went dark around the edges with either pain or oxygen deprivation, she wasn’t sure. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t get enough oxygen, couldn’t use her ruined stomach to suck more air in.

She was dragged off of Jason and thrown to the side.

Everything went dangerously gray from the pain, but she landed on her side in a close enough approximation to the recovery position to breathe. 

They were dragging Jason out.

She gasped for air.

He was yelling through the tape over his mouth.

Her blood was spreading quickly across the floor.

The Joker waved mockingly at her.

She couldn’t feel her legs.

The warehouse emptied.

She fumbled for the secret pocket under her arm, hoping the phone there was still intact.

Everything was spinning.

She dialed Bruce. 

Her head ached.

No answer.

Her back was on fire.

She dialed her dad. 

She was getting lightheaded.

No answer.

Her arm was losing sensation. 

She dialed Alfred.

She blacked out before she could hear if there was an answer. At least she didn’t hurt anymore.


	2. Spoiler

Spoiler alert: she hurt. Her leg ached from where she’d flung herself into the shadows to escape notice. She’d landed badly against the corner of a dumpster, only barely muffled her whimper of pain enough to escape her father’s notice. She knew without looking that there would be a bruise, a bad one. She was unfortunately good at gauging how damage would paint her body, much better than any sixteen year old had a right to.

She caught her breath, ignoring the foul stench in her panting mouth from the garbage she was laying on. She finally shoved herself up and clambered out of the dumpster. She balanced on the lip carefully. The garbage juice made it slippery, but if she was careful, she could walk along the edge of the dumpster up to that window. The window would be a much easier access point than any of the trapped doors.

Her leg ached savagely but she ignored it as she inched along the slick metal. She almost fell when she was too eager to reach out to grab at the wall, almost overbalanced, but compensated just in time.

The window was old, the panes loose from weather and lack of upkeep. It only took a few moments of work with her box cutter to slice through the caulking and pop it free. She tossed it down into the dumpster where it broke much more quietly than if she’d used her fist. She reached in through the opening to the lock and flicked it open. The window was stiff, but she shoved it up enough to wiggle through the opening. 

She paused halfway through to glance around. The window opened up above industrial sinks stacked with tiles and paintbrushes. The place was deserted, dusty and dank. She wiggled the rest of the way through and grabbed at the exposed pipe below the window so she wouldn’t fall on her face. Once she was on the ground, she moved fast. She moved as quietly as she could in her boots; they were a size too big on her. They were still the best ones she had for this kind of work. Shadowing her father and doing her best to ruin his plans.

She found the bomb on the second floor. Really, why was he putting a bomb in an abandoned building? Wouldn’t it be much better to blow up a utilities hub or something? 

She pulled her sleeve up and turned her flashlight on as she approached. She’d taped it to her forearm so she could have full use of her hands. She pulled out her boxcutter too and examined the bomb.

This one was more bang, less nails and screws. Since there wasn’t anyone around, the lack of shrapnel wasn’t surprising. There was a lot of explosives though. Like, a lot more. At least, she assumed the stuff that looked like play-doh was explosives, probably plastic. She hadn’t seen it in real life, only the diagrams in the books her father had left out. The ones she’d read cover to cover when she’d discovered his careful pages of notes and plans hidden inside.

This bomb looked sort of like one of the diagrams she remembered. She pulled out her phone and flicked through her photos, pulling up a picture of the diagram in question. Yeah, that was it. So to disarm it, she really just needed to… yeah, okay, she could do this.

She’d disarmed two other bombs already tonight, what was a third, she figured.

This one was a lot more scary looking though. There was probably more room for error if she fucked up, so she just wouldn’t fuck up.

She probably couldn’t use her box knife for this one though. She swapped it out for a pair of stolen wire clippers. 

She flexed her shaking hands.

Held her breath.

Snip.

Snip.

She sighed in relief, but it caught in her throat when there was a footstep behind her.

_ “You.” _

She whipped around, but she was too slow. She only saw a surge of shadow that was blacker than the darkness around them. She caught the fold of a cape and the point of an ear as he kicked her full across the chest. The sheer force of it sent her flying, tumbling and rolling across the floor. She wheezed pathetically when she came to a stop. There wasn’t a single bruise on her body that wasn’t jarred by that and there was a fierce pain in her side that said several ribs were broken.

Batman was an imposing form over her. Imposing and terrifying. 

He was huge. His broadness and bulkiness was just compounded by the kevlar and leather and metal that he was wrapped in, to say nothing of the cloak. He was holding a naked batarang at her that reflected the dim light of her flashlight back at her. He brought with him the heavy smell of smoke and accelerant. 

She didn’t dare move as he ghosted over to her. His footsteps were soundless. His cloak was only the quietest whisper against the floor. He knelt by her and grabbed her wrists and pulled them together behind her. A ziptie clicked into place around her wrists, tightly enough to bite into her skin.

“ _ Stay _ .” He growled. He went over to the bomb.

As soon as his back was turned she was writhing on the ground, trying to get her hands in front of her. She tried her best to be quiet, but she wasn’t nearly as good at it as he was. Fortunately, he was consumed by the need to disarm the bomb, not knowing that she’d already taken care of it. She was pretty sure she remembered how to get out of zipties, she’d watched a self-defense video about it last week, but her hands needed to be in front of her.

She kicked her legs through her arms awkwardly and then rolled onto her back. She thrust her hips into the air, supporting herself on her shoulders and feet as she yanked at the tail of the ziptie with her teeth, pulling it tighter. She spread her elbows as wide apart as she could and jammed her forearms down, hard, against her hips.

She stared when the ziptie snapped right off. She hadn’t actually been expecting that to work.

Batman was watching her from where he knelt by the bomb.

She scrambled up and put a few feet between them.

“You disarmed this bomb.” He said.

She nodded and took a few more steps back. She grabbed her box knife from her makeshift tactical belt. It wouldn’t do anything against him except make her feel better, but with how bad her ribs hurt, she’d take anything that made her feel better. Even if it was just a little bit.

“You didn’t set it.” He tilted his head. He shifted slightly, did something that made his silhouette seem smaller, less imposing.

She licked her lips nervously, accidentally licking the face mask she was wearing too. Hopefully she didn’t get any garbage juice in her mouth. “M-” She cleared her throat when it threatened to stick. “My dad’s the one setting them.” He wasn’t attacking her anymore. He was talking to her. She could be useful to him.

“Your father?” Batman frowned. “And you’re running around and… disarming them?” He sounded sceptical.

She nodded. “Look, my phone’s right there. It has a lot of the pictures of the schematics and stuff. That’s how I know how to disarm them.” She gestured with the box cutter.

He picked up her phone-- and wow wasn’t  _ that _ weird? Batman’s hands looked comically large holding her cute purple phone case. The Crying Breakfast Friends charm tinkled cheerfully against the metal back of his glove. He swiped through her photos for a minute before he set her phone down again. 

“I’m sorry for attacking you.” He slid her phone across the floor to her. The screen was still on. It was displaying a picture of her goldfish, probably taken just before the pictures of all the schematics. Very cool of her, accidentally showing Batman a photo of her fish.

“I mean, you thought I was the bomber.” She gingerly wrapped an arm around her ribs. 

Batman stood, slowly. He was keeping his hands in full view of her now. “Do you know where he’s going next?” He asked.

She nodded. “He took off west. There’s only a few places out that way that he’s scouted. I can… show you?” She almost cringed. She felt so dumb. All she had to help was information. He could get it all right now and leave her behind without having to bother with a hyperactive teenager with a revenge complex and a box knife. 

“Do you have a name?” He asked.

“Ste-- uh, Spoiler.” She caught herself at the last second before blurting out her civilian name and not her super cool code name she’d spent a week thinking up.

Batman’s mouth quirked slightly. “Spoiler. It’s good to meet you. I could use some help getting ahead of him.”

Stephanie’s mouth dropped open behind her mask. Whoa. This was going to be so dope. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie has a Crying Breakfast Friends charm on her phone, not that I totally stole that from Steven Universe or anything (Bruce also watches Crying Breakfast Club, but only because it's moderately more interesting than anything any board members are saying at any WE board meeting ever (Stephanie's favorite character is, of course, Wistful Waffles, but Bruce has a soft spot for Put-out Pancake (Dick's is Cranky Cereal)))  
> I'm going to do my best to have semi-regular updates, but as it turns out, I'm actually moving, so updates may be a bit more infrequent than I would like  
> BUT if you DO want more, the best way to motivate me to write more is to leave me a comment and let me know what you liked and what you thought! <3


	3. Batwoman

Gotham was quiet. 

Thank whatever gods existed for that. News had gone around that the Joker had gotten one over on the Bats, but the frequent appearances of the Justice League meant any enterprising criminals were cowed into hiding. While Bruce was on the Watchtower and holed up in his manor with his son, Superman, Green Lantern, and the Flash had taken it upon themselves to make sure they were seen in and around Gotham. 

Batwoman knew the criminals here preferred the devils they knew.

Batwoman caught sight of greenery in the streets below and frowned. She jumped and engaged the glider mode in her cape. She swept silently down to the street and landed with the softest crunch of grit under her boots.

There was a faint line of weeds and vines pushing up through the pavement. The greenery was slowly growing back into the earth, a surefire sign that Poison Ivy was close. That was both interesting and disconcerting: Poison Ivy had been stuck to Harley Quinn’s bedside for days. Why did she decide to go on a romp through Gotham now?

She followed the trail swiftly. She clicked through to Alfred’s comms as she ran.

_ “Ms. Kane.” _ He greeted her warmly.

“Alfred.” She nodded, though he wasn’t present. “I’ve got a lead on Poison Ivy. Note my location.”

_ “Of course. Stay safe. If I do not hear from you in five minute intervals, I shall dispatch someone to your location.” _

“Copy.” She clicked the comms off. She pulled her respirator out of her backpack and clipped it into place along her cowl. It should keep her safe from any pollens that Ivy tried to fling at her.

The greenery was getting bigger as she caught up. Then, interestingly, it led abruptly down a manhole. Vines were writhing around the opening, pulling the manhole cover back into place. Batwoman typed out a text to Alfred, pinging him her location and that she may not have signal. She grimaced and slipped down, biting back a shudder as thick vines brushed curiously against her. They were so thick, she didn’t even need to set up a rappel point, just climbed down the thick vines as quickly as she could. 

Interestingly, after a moment, the vines stilled their wiggles. They flattened under her feet and bowed out obligingly when she gripped them. Was Poison Ivy helping her? She stepped out into a tunnel and followed the plants. Besides the weeds and vines along the ground, there was also lush moss blanketing the walls, probably from Ivy just passing by. 

It made her nervous. She knew how quickly Poison Ivy could urge moss to grow vines to ensnare her. She went around a corner and stopped, abruptly. The tableau before her was shocking.

Poison Ivy glanced back at her. She was deep green, rather than the olive she’d been when Kate had seen them home from the Watchtower. Rather than her normal garb of leaves, she was wearing tight jeans and a dark shirt, wild curls braided back tightly. She was holding a gun. Behind her, plastered against the wall by thick vines, was the Joker. He was struggling against them, but it was utterly ineffective. There was a wad of moss in his mouth. He looked relieved to see Batwoman arrive.

Batwoman looked slowly from the Joker to Poison Ivy.

Before Batwoman could do anything, Poison Ivy raised the gun and fired three shots. Straight into the Joker’s head.

Blood and gray matter splattered everywhere.

Batwoman side-stepped to avoid a chunk of skull and whipped out a batarang. She threw it, using it to knock the gun out of Poison Ivy’s hand. Poison Ivy didn’t move as Batwoman rushed her and shoved her against the wall. No plants rushed to her aid, no vines yanked Batwoman off of her, no pollen burst into her face.

Poison Ivy just slowly raised her empty hands up.

Batwoman narrowed her eyes behind her cowl. “What are you doing?” She growled. It was muffled, through her respirator, but their faces were too close for Ivy to mishear.

“No plan.” Poison Ivy said calmly. “No trick. No trap. This was just revenge.” 

Batwoman tightened her grip in Ivy’s shirt. “Revenge? For Quinn?”

Poison Ivy nodded. “For her. And for Robin too, I suppose.”

“You suppose?” She repeated.

“Mm. I won’t win my case here by making myself out to be more noble, I know, but I don’t like people who hurt women and kids.”

Revenge. Batwoman could understand that. She glanced at the net of vines holding the Joker’s corpse against the wall. “If I let you go, are you going to kill anyone else?” She asked, looking back at Poison Ivy. She loosened her grip on her, just a bit.

Ivy’s eyebrows arched in surprise. She looked a little dumbfounded. “No.” She said.

“How can I be sure of that?” Batwoman asked.

Poison Ivy huffed out a small, sharp laugh. She smirked like it was painful to do so. “Because no one else hurt Harls like that.”

Batwoman released her, stepping back.

Poison Ivy stared at her, openly shocked.

“You’re lucky I’m in a good mood.” Batwoman smirked, unhooking the respirator from her cowl in an equally open show of trust. “I heard the Joker’s gone on a long vacation.”

Poison Ivy smirked. This one looked less pained. “I think I heard that too.”

Batwoman only felt a little bit guilty as she walked away. Sorry Bruce, she thought to herself, but something needed to be done. Justice came in all forms, she justified to herself. She wouldn’t let the Joker befall her nephew a second time. Besides, Poison Ivy wasn’t all bad. 

She clicked her comms on once she was back outside. “No sign of Ivy. She got away.” She reported in to Alfred. 

Gotham was quiet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! New chapter! Sorry for the delay! I am currently moving so updates for all my WIPs are a little touch and go, sorry! Hopefully everything should be back to normal in a week or two.  
> You know what's the best after a day of moving boxes and fighting to shove mattresses up and down stairs? Comments. You should let me know what you're thinking! Are there any missing scenes you're wondering about from part 2? Any particular characters you want to see sooner rather than later? Leave me a comment and let me know! <3


	4. Nightwing

Nightwing was  _ exhausted _ but he couldn’t stop yet. He slipped soundlessly out of his bathroom because he was finally home again. But just because he was home didn’t mean he was safe. Not by a long shot. He looked over at his bed and observed the three teens squished together, sleeping in a tangled mess of limbs and hair. Rachel was at the center of the cuddle puddle. She was gripping Kori’s hand and Garfield’s sweatshirt in death grips. Kori was drooling on Rachel’s shoulder and Garfield was snuffling softly in the way that meant he’d start snoring soon. It looked like Rachel had braided Kori’s hair back after her shower so at least they wouldn’t have to fight Kori’s hair in the morning on top of everything else.

Nightwing grabbed a blanket from the closet and tossed it over them gently. They’d passed out on top of the covers but between Kori’s natural heat and Garfield’s tendency to sprout a fur coat in his sleep, they’d be fine with this. He left the bedroom just as soundlessly as he’d entered, easing the door shut behind him. Just because the kids were safe didn’t mean he could take a break. He rechecked all of his security systems and locks before turning on his computer. 

It looked like a wheezy old desktop but when he toggled the activation code on the side pressure panel, it immediately kicked into Batmode. He slipped his headset on and called the Batcave.

_ “Welcome back, Nightwing.” _

He frowned. He’d been connected through to Batwoman. “Hey. Where’s B-man?”

_ “Busy, I don’t doubt. You missed a lot while you were gone. What’s the outcome on your case?” _

“As yet undetermined. I ran into some innocents I had to extract. What’s going on?”

Batwoman hummed in thought. He could hear wind through the connection. She was probably standing on top of a skyscraper somewhere overlooking the Gotham skyline from above.  _ “No one’s dead.”  _ She announced.  _ “But it will be better for you to speak with Batman directly.” _

“Yeah, I tried to call, got put through to you.” Nightwing frowned. “Is he benched?”

_ “In a manner of speaking. An in person visit may be best.” _

Nightwing wanted to scream. He would if he could but he couldn’t just up and leave three metas unprotected in his apartment. “I would, but I’m Witness Protection.” He rubbed at his face.

_ “Your innocents? What did your target want with them?”  _ Batwoman’s voice went a little sharp.

“He wanted what I didn’t give him. An apprentice.” Nightwing scowled. 

_ “Are you safe?” _ She asked. 

Nightwing sighed and rubbed at his face. “I wouldn’t say no to an extra set of eyes. I’m almost too far gone for coffee to help.” 

Batwoman tutted over the line.  _ “I’m on my way now.” _

“Thanks.” It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his chest. If he could just get a little bit of sleep he could think of the next step he needed to take. Maybe the YJ barracks could put them up for a bit. “I’m upgrading my traps while I wait for you.”

_ “Don’t electrocute yourself.” _ He could hear the smile in her voice as she disconnected. 

Dick leaned back in his chair and locked his hands behind his head. 

“Richard?”

Forget sleep. If he could just get five minutes to himself he’d be great. “Yeah?” He stood and turned. 

Kori floated in the doorway. She was rubbing at her eyes sleepily. “Garfield broke your bed.” She was covered in feathers that stuck to her borrowed clothes and hair. 

Dick sighed. “I assume he got my pillows too?”

She nodded, ducking her head. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s okay. They’re just pillows. And my bedframe was shitty anyway.” He comforted her immediately, hating the contrite look in her eyes. She looked like she was waiting to be punished. She probably was. “Do we need to move you three to the couch?” 

She shrugged. “I think the mat-tress is alright?” She said uncertainly. 

“Let’s take a look. C’mon Princess.” He grabbed her hand gently and towed her through the air back to the bedroom. 

Ah. Garfield had shifted in his sleep again. A huge green tiger was sprawled across half of his mattress. Two of his pillows were split open by gaping slashes from large paws. Feathers coated Rachel and Garfield like a snowfall, making Rachel look angelic. 

The entire mattress was skewed and slanted. Dick could see that the legs of the bedframe on Garfield’s side were splintered. Garfield probably weighed three hundred and fifty pounds in this form, even as underweight as he was. Add to that Rachel and Kori and he should have thought of his poor bed’s weight rating sooner. 

Garfield and Rachel were still dead asleep. 

“Well, nothing we can do about it now.” Dick put his hands on his hips. “I can set you up on the couch if you want though.”

Kori shook her head immediately, releasing Dick’s hand as she floated up into the air. “This is alright.” She settled back on the bed beside Rachel. 

Dick grabbed a blanket and threw it open to throw it over Kori. It made hundreds of feathers dance up into the air around them. Okay, maybe not his best idea ever. 

Kori giggled in delight. Her eyes went wide with glee as she watched the feathers drift. 

Dick grinned at her expression. Alright, yeah, that smile was worth a little mess. “Get some sleep, okay?”

She nodded, already sleepy again. 

Dick couldn’t help but lean in to press a quick kiss to her forehead as he pulled the blanket further up her body. 

She smiled sweetly. “Goodnight Richard.”

“Night.” He slipped out of the room again. Whatever sort of mess Bruce and Jason had gotten into without him couldn’t be bigger than the two metas, alien, and broken bed in his room. 

He shouldn’t have tempted fate, but at that point, it was already far too late to matter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun facts:  
> Dick was undercover as Ric Grayson  
> This is Titans TV Show Beast Boy  
> This is Teen Titans Cartoon Starfire  
> This is Titans TV Show and Teen Titans Cartoon fusion Raven  
> I'm gay for Kate Kane but you knew that one already  
> Dick might get another chapter later for/with ~feelings~
> 
> Sorry about abandoning y'all for like,,, a month? this work is pretty pivotal for what ends up happening for the rest of the series and I keep changing my mind on what I want to do bc I'm indecisive but anyway I finally got my Nightwing chapter done thank god
> 
> Anyway please leave me a comment and let me know what you liked! Next up we might get to see Green Lantern or Harley Quinn? Who knows I'll probably end up changing my mind 87 times again lol bc this chapter was originally supposed to be (checks notes) Alfred's POV??? so that's cool. Other possibilities: Barbara or Superman or Catwoman? again: who knows
> 
> Til next time! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm finally back at it! I hope you're enjoying it so far and please remember to leave a comment!  
> As always, not beta read, so please let me know if there's any typos or mistakes.  
> Remember that I'm on Tumblr at InAweOfDiana if you want to yell with me!


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